There are three words every puck fan in the world loves to hear in the middle of fall: Hockey is back.
Despite a shortened season and the axing of the beloved Winter Classic and All-Star Game, last year continued the NHL’s ascent in popularity in America. The 48-game sprint the players and coaches endured provided one of the most exciting regular seasons in recent memory and primed us all for a terrific postseason.
This season should be no different, with a full 82-game schedule and the return of outdoor hockey. Conference realignment — brought on primarily because of travel expenses for some teams like the Winnipeg Jets and Dallas Stars — has come to the NHL, and should reignite some old rivalries while simultaneously sparking new ones.
The NHL season begins Oct. 1 with a three game slate: Toronto travels to Montreal, Winnipeg takes on Edmonton, and Washington visits the defending Cup champs in Chicago.
Without further ado, here is your 2013-14 NHL season preview.
Regular Season Preview
Atlantic Division Favorite: Boston Bruins
The Bruins are the reigning Eastern Conference champs, and should be the favorite coming out of the East again this season after their offseason acquisitions. Boston was just minutes away from taking the Blackhawks to a deciding seventh game in the Stanley Cup Finals last year before allowing two goals in 17 seconds in Game 6. With arguably an even better roster in 2013, it is championship or bust once again for the B’s.
Veteran forward Nathan Horton is gone along with the talented Tyler Seguin, but the additions of wingers Louis Eriksson and Jerome Iginla should be more than enough to make up for those losses. Tuukka Rask has proven that he can be a perennial Vezina Trophy candidate, and with an offensive core that features Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, Milan Lucic and Brad Marchand to go along with a youthful blue line group led by Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg, Boston looks primed for another postseason run.
The Challengers: Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs
The Ottawa Senators are also in this conversation, although it’s hard to see them winning the division given the depth of the Atlantic this season. Ottawa still has a shot at the postseason given their goaltending and style of play, but it will be interesting to see what happens in what is now a loaded Eastern Conference.
The Atlantic now features four Original Six teams with the addition of Detroit, and all four have a legitimate shot at the division. I give the Red Wings the best shot at challenging Boston for the title given the system they play and the additions of Daniel Alfredsson and Stephen Weiss. Montreal and Toronto both had strong seasons a year ago, but both teams’ struggles in previous seasons makes it hard to judge whether what they did last season is what hockey fans can expect moving forward.
Basically, everyone other than the Buffalo Sabres — who remain a rebuilding mess — and the two Florida teams — the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning, who are just simply overmatched talent-wise — has a shot to come out on top.
Metropolitan Division Favorite: Pittsburgh Penguins
Sydney Crosby and company led the Penguins to the best record in the Eastern Conference last season and looked destined to meet Chicago in the finals until a lack of consistent goaltending and a stout Bruins defense swept them from the Eastern Conference Finals in four games.
Despite the disappointing ending, there is no denying that Pittsburgh is loaded offensively both up front and on the back end. Evgeni Malkin, James Neal, Chris Kunitz and Kris Letang all make the Pens the most offensively-talented team in the league. Despite being in arguably the toughest division top to bottom in the NHL, that scoring depth makes Pittsburgh a regular season powerhouse. How Marc-Andre Fleury or Tomas Vokoun play in net will determine where this team goes once playoff hockey begins.
The Challengers: New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers
The Flyers’ talent up front has never been questioned, with the likes of captain Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell, Wayne Simmonds, Jakub Voracek and newcomer Vincent Lecavalier leading the charge. They’ll need every bit of that firepower if they wish to keep pace with the Pens this season. Ray Emery and Steve Mason will share the goaltending duties and look — on paper, at least — to be huge upgrades over the departed Ilya Bryzgalov.
Alain Vigneault brings a scoring mentality as the new man behind the Rangers’ bench, something that should help Rick Nash and co. fulfill their offensive potential in 2013-14. New York still has the makeup of a defensive stalwart, not to mention arguably the best goalie on the planet in Henrik Lundqvist, so it is not unreasonable to see the Blue Shirts taking the Metropolitan this season, especially if they mesh under Vigneault.
The Washington Capitals, New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders all have legitimate shots at the post season, although I don’t see them truly pushing the Pens, Rangers or Flyers for the division. If reigning Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky shines in net, a playoff berth isn’t out of the question for the Columbus Blue Jackets either, even in a loaded East. The Carolina Hurricanes will have a hard time getting out of the cellar in the rugged Metropolitan.
Central Division Favorite: Chicago Blackhawks
Picking against the defending champs, especially in a division that is uncharacteristically vanilla in 2013-14, is just not smart here. The dreaded Stanley Cup hangover is always a possibility — especially considering the fact that they’ve gone through the shortest offseason known to man — and it is unrealistic to expect them to replicate what they did last year, but the ‘Hawks are just too well-rounded and too well-coached to not be the favorite in the Central. The losses of Dave Bolland and Ray Emery hurts their chances of making another run to the President’s Trophy as the winningest team in the regular season this year, but their core remains intact enough for another deep playoff push.
Led by arguably the best two-way forward in the league in captain Jonathan Toews — who is supported by a top-shelf playmaker in Patrick Kane and a perennial 30-goal scorer in Patrick Sharp — and anchored on the back end by the defensive pairing of Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook, Chicago proved they have what it takes to take home the hardware last spring. Netminder Corey Crawford is improved as well, and should take a boat load of confidence into the season opener against the Capitals following his stellar playoff run.
The Challengers: Minnesota Wild, St. Louis Blues
Is this the year St. Louis makes the jump? The Blues have shown promise the past few seasons and still feature a playing style that is congruent with playoff success, but have been thwarted the past two postseasons by teams that could simply outscore them. The gap between Chicago and the Blues is still pretty wide, but that doesn’t mean St. Louis can’t make a playoff push if they figure out how to put the puck in the net on a more consistent basis.
The Wild are in a similar boat. Zach Parise and Ryan Suter both had good years in their first season in Minnesota, and if the Wild figure out those scoring woes, they could be dangerous as well. Regardless of where they finish in the division, the Wild are too talented to miss out on the playoffs. Nashville is the best out of the remaining teams in the Central — the Dallas Stars, Winnipeg Jets and Colorado Avalanche — but simply don’t have the talent offensively to match up with the others on a regular basis despite having the best goaltender in their division in Pekka Rinne.
Pacific Division Favorite: Los Angeles Kings
The Kings should be strong once again and will be one of the names mentioned throughout the season as possible Stanley Cup contenders. They managed a run to the Western Conference Finals a season ago before falling to the eventual Cup champs, and most of their pieces from their 2011 Championship-winning squad remain intact. They have guys on the blue line who can score almost as well as they can defend, and netminder Jonathan Quick could be the best playoff goalie in the NHL.
The Challengers: San Jose Sharks, Anaheim Ducks, Phoenix Coyotes
The one name that many will notice has been left out is the Vancouver Canucks, a perennial shoe-in for a postseason berth the last few seasons. They’re entering their first year under new head coach John Tortorella, a defensive-minded disciplinarian who is the exact opposite of the departed Alain Vigneault. This team isn’t exactly suited to Tortorella’s style, and could miss out on the postseason for the first time since 2007-08.
The Sharks look to be the team that could give the Kings the most trouble. They pushed them to seven games in the Western Conference Semifinals last season, and with Logan Couture hitting his stride, Joe Thornton still producing and Antii Niemi as consistent as ever in net, the Sharks should pose a major threat to anyone come playoff time.
The Ducks — simply because they won the division last season — and the Coyotes — simply because they’ve improved tremendously on offense — are the other two squads in the Pacific that have a shot at the title. The Ducks got older and less talented with the departure of Bobby Ryan to Ottawa and might not have the offensive firepower they’ll need to contend with the Kings and Sharks, but it’s hard to totally count out a team coached by Bruce Boudreau.
The ‘Yotes got an offensive boost with the signing of Mike Ribeiro in the offseason to complement their already-solid blue line and goaltending, and could be a sleeper pick out West if everything clicks under their new ownership. Edmonton is talented but inexperienced, and Calgary is in a full-on rebuild. Barring a huge step forward by a young Oilers squad, neither of these two longtime Alberta rivals should contend for a playoff spot out West.
Team Award Predictions
Stanley Cup Champion: Boston Bruins
Eastern Conference Winner: Boston Bruins
Western Conference Winner: Los Angeles Kings
President’s Trophy Winner (Top point-getter in regular season): Pittsburgh Penguins
Individual Award Predictions
Conn Smythe Trophy (Playoff MVP): Tuukka Rask, Boston Bruins
Hart Memorial Trophy (Regular Season MVP): Sydney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
Vezina Trophy (Top Goaltender): Craig Anderson, Ottawa Senators
Art Ross Trophy (Top Point-Getter): Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay Lightning
James Norris Memorial Trophy (Top Defenseman): Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Senators
Maurice ‘Rocket’ Richard Trophy (Top Goal-Scorer): Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals